Shelby tolly
Tranh Pham, Acting Coordinator at the PRIDE Center, pictured at the PRIDE Center’s annual Queer Welcome event via zoom on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. There, she briefed participants on the emotional, social, physical and academic resources and services of the PRIDE Center. PRIDE Center for students. Screenshot by Shelby Tolly
“Queer Welcome” is an annual celebration for LGBTQ + students, employees and allies to learn more about the PRIDE Center and its services. This year it took place on Zoom Tuesday.
Hosted by Tranh Pham, the Acting Coordinator of the PRIDE Center, there were five breakout rooms. In each, the partnerships and resources used by the PRIDE Center were presented.
Located on the first floor of Union University in Sacramento State, the PRIDE Center focuses on supporting LGBTQ + students with academic, professional and personal goals. The center offers services and scholarships to meet the unique challenges of the community as students.
Pham said the goal of this year’s “Queer Welcome” is to bring the LGBTQ + community together in the state of Sacramento by welcoming new and old students and staff to campus.
“We are delighted to see so many of you this afternoon supporting the [PRIDE] The work of the Center, which promotes, fosters and enhances intersectionality, community, advocacy and liberation among LGBTQ + students at Sac State, ”said Pham.
Aisha Engle, the coordinator of the Women’s Resource Center, described the five breakout rooms as a tool to help provide support to LGBTQ + students and teachers attending “Queer Welcome,” from personal needs to financial needs.
“[The breakout rooms] offer support regarding personal, social, emotional, intellectual, financial and civic needs, ”said Engle.
Resources like Queer Connect, a weekly support group for members of the LGBTQ + community was among the named services.
Currently organized on Zoom every Wednesday, students can register on the Student Health and Counseling Services website talk to a peer counselor.
“There is such a need for people to be heard, for students to be heard in these difficult times,” said Katie Dickson, a peer counselor with the PRIDE Center.
Dickson said there were only 15 peer counselors and she was specifically assigned to the PRIDE Center. She said she hopes they will have in-person peer counselor sessions soon.
The Sacramento LGBT Community Center was also mentioned. The center aims to help LGBTQ + people thrive through advocacy and support for health and wellness.
One of the resources also includes a Healthy Relationship Cohort. Jess Lemos, a student manager for student health and counseling services, explains that the cohort runs classes in healthy relationships, sexual health, safe sex and preventing sexual violence on campus.
Lemos also said that students can obtain items such as condoms from student health and counseling services located at WELL.
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Nathan Bach, another student responsible for student health and counseling services, said their offerings also include medical care, emergency care, pharmacy services and smoking cessation kits.
Bach also talked about an upcoming “Mingling over Mocktails” series to be held once a month on Wednesdays. Open to LGBTQ + students and allies, the series will begin on October 20 and take place at WELL. According to Bach, students can register on their patient portal.
“[We have] a series of fun evenings designed especially for LGBTQ + students and allies, where we will meet once a month and do fun activities, ”said Bach.
“Queer Welcome” also shared the legacy and history of the PRIDE Center at Sac State.
James Fox and Lynn Drennan of Gerth Special Collections and University Archives kicked off the “History of The PRIDE Center” segment of the event.
“History is created on our campus every day,” Fox said. “LGBTQ + issues arise, and we try to archive them. We are all about the history of Sac State and the history of our region.
In their story segment, Fox and Drennan recounted the story of Otto Butz, president of Sac State in 1971, who refused to recognize the Society for Homosexual Freedom as a student organization, claiming that the club “would attract homosexuals to campus and expose minors to homosexuals.” advocacy and practices ”according to previous State Hornet coverage.
Then the Associate students at Sacramento State College sued Butz, so LGBTQ + students were able to come together as a student organization. The judge ruled in favor of the students and the company would later help establish the PRIDE Center in 2006.
Vice President of Student Affairs Ed Mills was also in attendance and said the PRIDE Center has a special place in his heart.
“[Sac State] is the only university where I have ever worked or attempted to have a PRIDE center, ”said Mills.
Pham said that overall, while providing partnerships with various LGBTQ + resources on campus, the PRIDE Center strives to foster a safe campus environment for LGBTQ + students.
“The mission of the PRIDE Center is to create and maintain an open, safe and supportive campus environment for student diversity in the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity expression, ”he said. she declared.
The Center offers resources, services, scholarships and programs to meet the unique challenges of the community as students.
For more information, students can contact a PRIDE Center representative at their email address [email protected] or by phone at (916) 278-3940.
